Friday 14 June 2013

Evelyn Court, Stourcliffe Street W1

The mansion blocks that line Edgware Road are seedy now, bearing the scars of decades of low-cost maintenance and lazy workers installing cables for phones, security systems and lights.
But they were high status back in the 1930s when they were built, as shown by the trouble the developers took over the entrance to the flats above Evelyn Court.
The doorway is surrounded with a delicate beaded string and given emphasis with a carved lintel. It is very Moderne, with no frivolous ornament - ironically, as the piece is itself an ornament.
The Marble Arch at the centre is stripped of all its classical flimflam, the bus climbing up the hill in the background is streamlined and sleek, and the houses have randomly-placed windows implying a 'formfollowsfunction' ideology. The sky is paved.
Trees are the only living things in this landscape.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rather like this. Is it the only one of its type?

Chris Partridge said...

I have never seen another, which makes me keen to know who made it.